Multi-stage body engagement detection

ABSTRACT

According to an aspect of the disclosure, an audio device is provided comprising a communications interface configured to be communicatively coupled to an audio source, at least one sensor, and a controller configured to control the audio device to be in a low-power mode, receive, from the sensor(s), information indicative of a presence of a user&#39;s body, initiate, via the communications interface responsive to receiving the information, a wireless communication pairing process to establish a wireless communication bond with the audio source prior to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the user&#39;s body, determine, subsequent to initiating the wireless communication pairing process and based on information received from the sensor(s), that the audio device is fully engaged with the user&#39;s body, and control, responsive to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the user&#39;s body, the audio device to be in an active mode.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/835,856, filed on Mar. 31, 2020, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Disclosure

At least one example in accordance with the present disclosure relatesgenerally to detecting use of electronic devices.

2. Discussion of Related Art

Various audio devices are configured to receive signals encoding audioinformation from an audio source, and output acoustic signals based onthe received signals. Wired audio devices may receive the signalsencoding the audio information from the audio source via a wiredconnection. Wireless audio devices may receive the signals encoding theaudio information from the audio source via a wireless connection.Wireless audio devices may need to establish a wireless connection withthe audio source in a process generally referred to as “pairing” beforethe signals encoding the audio information may be sent.

SUMMARY

According to at least one aspect of the present disclosure, an audiodevice is provided comprising a communications interface configured tobe communicatively coupled to an audio source, at least one sensor, anda controller coupled to the communications interface and the at leastone sensor, the controller being configured to control the audio deviceto be in a low-power mode, receive, from the at least one sensor,information indicative of a presence of a body of a user, initiate, viathe communications interface responsive to receiving the informationindicative of the presence of the user, a wireless communication pairingprocess to establish a wireless communication bond with the audio sourceprior to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with thebody of the user, determine, subsequent to initiating the wirelesscommunication pairing process and based on information received from theat least one sensor, that the audio device is fully engaged with thebody of the user, and control, responsive to determining that the audiodevice is fully engaged with the body of the user, the audio device tobe in an active mode.

In some examples, the at least one sensor includes a first sensorconfigured to provide the information indicative of the presence of thebody of the user, and wherein the controller is further configured toreceive, from a second sensor of the at least one sensor, movementinformation indicative of movement of the audio device, and activate,responsive to receiving the movement information indicative of movementof the audio device, the first sensor to provide the informationindicative of the presence of the body of the user. In various examples,the first sensor includes at least one infrared sensor. In at least oneexample, the first sensor includes at least one of an infrared sensor todetect a user's tragus and an infrared sensor to detect a user's concha.In some examples, in determining that the audio device is fully engagedwith the body of the user, the controller is further configured toreceive, from the at least one sensor, orientation informationindicative of an orientation of the audio device, and determine, basedon the orientation information, that the audio device is in a validorientation.

In various examples, in determining that the audio device is in thevalid orientation, the controller is configured to determine that afirst orientation value indicative of an orientation of the audio deviceabout a pitch axis is within a first range of values, and determine thata second orientation value indicative of an orientation of the audiodevice about a roll axis is within a second range of values. In at leastone example, the controller is further configured to receive, from theat least one sensor subsequent to initiating the wireless communicationpairing process, orientation information indicative of an orientation ofthe audio device, determine, based on the orientation information, thatthe audio device is not in a valid orientation, determine whether athreshold amount of time has elapsed since receiving the informationindicative of the presence of the body of the user, and determine,responsive to determining that the threshold amount of time has elapsed,that the audio device is not fully engaged with the body of the user.

In some examples, the controller is further configured to determine,based on the information indicative of the presence of the user, thatthe audio device is disengaged from the body of the user, determinewhether the audio device has been disengaged from the body of the userfor at least a threshold period of time, and control, responsive todetermining that the audio device has been disengaged from the body ofthe user for at least the threshold period of time, the audio device totransition from the active mode to the low-power mode. In variousexamples, in controlling the audio device to be in the active mode, thecontroller is further configured to disable or modify at least onecompressor in a feedforward signal path executed by the controller, andmodify an active noise reduction control scheme executed by thecontroller to increase active noise reduction by the audio device.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, a method of operating an audiodevice including a communications interface and at least one sensor isprovided, the method comprising controlling the audio device to be in alow-power mode, receiving, from the at least one sensor, informationindicative of a presence of a body of a user, initiating, via thecommunications interface responsive to receiving the informationindicative of the presence of the user, a wireless communication pairingprocess to establish a wireless communication bond with an audio sourceprior to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with thebody of the user, determining, subsequent to initiating the wirelesscommunication pairing process and based on information received from theat least one sensor, whether the audio device is fully engaged with thebody of the user, and controlling, responsive to determining that theaudio device is fully engaged with the body of the user, the audiodevice to be in an active mode.

In some examples, the at least one sensor includes a first sensorconfigured to provide the information indicative of the presence of thebody of the user, the method further comprising receiving, from a secondsensor of the at least one sensor, movement information indicative ofmovement of the audio device, and activating, responsive to receivingthe movement information indicative of movement of the audio device, thefirst sensor to provide the information indicative of the presence ofthe body of the user. In various examples, determining that the audiodevice is fully engaged with the body of the user includes receiving,from the at least one sensor, orientation information indicative of anorientation of the audio device, and determining, based on theorientation information, that the audio device is in a validorientation.

In at least one example, determining that the audio device is in thevalid orientation includes determining that a first orientation valueindicative of an orientation of the audio device about a pitch axis iswithin a first range of values, and determining that a secondorientation value indicative of an orientation of the audio device abouta roll axis is within a second range of values. In some examples,determining whether the audio device is fully engaged with the body ofthe user includes receiving, from the at least one sensor subsequent toinitiating the wireless communication pairing process, orientationinformation indicative of an orientation of the audio device,determining, based on the orientation information, that the audio deviceis not in a valid orientation, determining whether a threshold amount oftime has elapsed since receiving the information indicative of thepresence of the body of the user, and determining, responsive todetermining that the threshold amount of time has elapsed, that theaudio device is not fully engaged with the body of the user. In variousexamples, controlling the audio device to be in the active mode includesdisabling or modifying at least one compressor in a feedforward signalpath, and modifying an active noise reduction control scheme to increaseactive noise reduction by the audio device.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing thereon sequences ofcomputer-executable instructions for operating an audio device includinga communications interface and at least one sensor is provided, thesequences of computer-executable instructions including instructionsthat instruct at least one processor to control the audio device to bein a low-power mode, receive, from the at least one sensor, informationindicative of a presence of a body of a user, initiate, via thecommunications interface responsive to receiving the informationindicative of the presence of the user, a wireless communication pairingprocess to establish a wireless communication bond with the audio sourceprior to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with thebody of the user, determine, subsequent to initiating the wirelesscommunication pairing process and based on information received from theat least one sensor, whether the audio device is fully engaged with thebody of the user, and control, responsive to determining that the audiodevice is fully engaged with the body of the user, the audio device tobe in an active mode.

In some examples, the instructions that instruct the at least oneprocessor to determine whether the audio device is fully engaged withthe body of the user further instruct the at least one processor toreceive, from the at least one sensor, orientation informationindicative of an orientation of the audio device, and determine, basedon the orientation information, that the audio device is in a validorientation. In various examples, in instructing the at least oneprocessor to determine whether the audio device is in the validorientation, the instructions further instruct the at least oneprocessor to determine that a first orientation value indicative of anorientation of the audio device about a pitch axis is within a firstrange of values, and determine that a second orientation valueindicative of an orientation of the audio device about a roll axis iswithin a second range of values.

In at least one example, in instructing the at least one processor todetermine whether the audio device is fully engaged with the body of theuser, the instructions further instruct the at least one processor toreceive, from the at least one sensor subsequent to initiating thewireless communication pairing process, orientation informationindicative of an orientation of the audio device, determine, based onthe orientation information, that the audio device is not in a validorientation, determine whether a threshold amount of time has elapsedsince receiving the information indicative of the presence of the bodyof the user, and determine, responsive to determining that the thresholdamount of time has elapsed, that the audio device is not fully engagedwith the body of the user. In some examples, in instructing theprocessor to control the audio device to be in the active mode, theinstructions further instruct the at least one processor to disable ormodify at least one compressor in a feedforward signal path, and modifyan active noise reduction control scheme to increase active noisereduction by the audio device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects of at least one example are discussed below withreference to the accompanying figures, which are not intended to bedrawn to scale. The figures are included to provide an illustration anda further understanding of the various aspects and examples, and areincorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, but are notintended as a definition of the limits of any particular example. Thedrawings, together with the remainder of the specification, serve toexplain principles and operations of the described and claimed aspectsand examples. In the figures, each identical or nearly identicalcomponent that is illustrated in various figures is represented by alike numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may belabeled in every figure. In the figures:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of headphones according to anexample;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of headphones according to anotherexample;

FIG. 3A illustrates a perspective view of an earpiece according to anexample;

FIG. 3B illustrates another perspective view of the earpiece accordingto an example;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless audio systemaccording to an example;

FIG. 5 illustrates a process of operating the wireless audio systemaccording to an example;

FIG. 6 illustrates a process of operating a wireless audio deviceaccording to an example;

FIG. 7 illustrates a process of determining whether the wireless audiodevice is in use according to an example;

FIG. 8 illustrates a process of determining whether the wireless audiodevice is still in use according to an example; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a process of operating a wireless audio deviceaccording to an example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As discussed above, wireless audio devices may communicate wirelesslywith entities providing audio information (including, for example,smartphones, tablets, laptops, personal computers, and so forth).Accordingly, wireless audio devices may include components for sendingand/or receiving audio signals. For example, wireless audio devices mayinclude antennas configured to convert electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough space into electrical currents and/or convert electricalcurrents into electromagnetic waves propagating through space. Wirelessaudio devices may also include other components, such as sensors,transducers, energy storage devices, and so forth.

When a user is not using the wireless audio device (for example, whenthe user is not using the wireless audio device to output acousticsignals), it may be advantageous for the wireless audio device todisable certain device functionality to reduce power consumption.Accordingly, it may be advantageous to provide wireless audio deviceshaving multiple modes of operation. For example, a wireless audio devicemay have a “sleep,” or low-power, mode during which power consumption isminimized or reduced, and an “active,” or full-power, mode during whichpower consumption is not minimized or reduced to the same degree as thesleep mode. The low-power mode may include curtailing and/or disablingcertain device functionality or features to reduce power consumption,although other functionality or features may remain active.

Similarly, the active mode may include curtailing and/or disablingcertain device functionality or features to reduce power consumption,although on average the wireless audio device may consume more powerduring the active mode. That is, certain functionality may be beneficialwhen the wireless audio device is not in use by a user, but may be lessbeneficial when the wireless audio device is in use by the user. Inlight of the foregoing, it may be beneficial to detect when the wirelessaudio device is in use and when the wireless audio device is not in usesuch that certain device functionality may be disabled or enabled basedon whether the wireless audio device is in use.

For example, a first feature includes modifying operation of afeedforward compressor as a part of an active noise reduction (ANR) oractive noise cancellation (ANC) system. In various examples, a wirelessaudio device may include a feedforward signal path having a compressorconfigured to respond to certain instability conditions that maynegatively impact a user's experience. For example, an undesirablecoupling between an audio device driver and a feedforward microphone mayoccur where a user cups a hand around the audio device, which may causeundesirable audible artifacts. The compressor in the feedforward signalpath of an ANR or ANC system may detect this coupling and modify a setof filter coefficients in the feedforward signal path to mitigate oreliminate the audible artifacts.

Such undesirable coupling may be particularly common where a user is inthe process of engaging the wireless audio device with the user's body(for example, by inserting the audio device into the user's ears andadjusting them to a comfortable orientation) while preparing to use thewireless audio device. Maintaining the compressor in operation while thewireless audio device is not fully engaged with the user's body maytherefore advantageously mitigate the effects of the undesirablecoupling. However, the coupling is typically not experienced once theaudio device is fully engaged with the user's body (for example, afterthe wireless audio device is inserted into the user's ears and the userhas finished adjusting the audio device). Maintaining the compressor inoperation after the audio device is fully engaged with the user's bodymay therefore disadvantageously result in the compressor being activatedunnecessarily, which can lower ANR performance. Accordingly, operationof the compressor may be unnecessary once the wireless audio device isfully engaged with the user's body. It may therefore be beneficial todisable or minimize operation of the compressor responsive to detectingthat the wireless audio device has been engaged with the user's body.

A second feature includes increasing filtering settings of an ANR or ANCsystem and enabling an instability detection algorithm. In variousexamples, the wireless audio device may include an ANR system to detectfeedback instability and modify one or more filter settings based on thefeedback instability. However, in some examples, the wireless audiodevice may detect feedback instability where ANR may offer few or nobenefits. For example, the ANR function may detect feedback instabilitywhere a user blocks a nozzle of the wireless audio device, which mayoccur where a user is handling the wireless audio device to engage thewireless audio device with the user's body. Accordingly, operation ofthe ANR function may be unnecessary before the wireless audio device isfully engaged with the user's body. It may therefore be beneficial todisable or minimize operation of the ANR function (for example, bydisabling the instability detection algorithm and reducing filteringsettings) until the wireless audio device is determined to be engagedwith the user's body. More particularly, it may be advantageous toactivate an instability algorithm and increase feedback filteringsettings only when the wireless audio device is determined to be engagedwith the user's body.

A third feature includes maintaining a wireless connection between thewireless audio device and an entity or entities providing audioinformation that the wireless audio device uses to output acousticsignals. While a user is not using the wireless audio device, it may bebeneficial to temporarily suspend a wireless connection between thewireless audio device and the entity or entities providing the audioinformation. When a user resumes using the wireless audio device, it maybe advantageous to re-establish a wireless connection between thewireless audio device and the entity or entities providing the audioinformation. However, re-establishing the wireless connection, alsoreferred to herein as “pairing,” may not be instantaneous.

Certain wireless technology standards, such as the BLUETOOTH™ wirelesstechnology standard, include various procedures that are typicallyexecuted prior to wireless signals being exchanged. For example,entities communicating pursuant to a wireless technology standard mayneed to validate an identity of the other entity to ensure thatsensitive information exchanged between the devices is notdisadvantageously provided to a malicious user. Pairing processesbetween two entities may thus not be instantaneous, depending on therequirements of a wireless technology standard adhered to. Becausecertain wireless technology standards do not allow the exchange of audioinformation prior to completion of the pairing process, a user may needto wait for the pairing process to complete before the user can freelyuse the wireless audio device.

Understandably, users may find the delay imposed by pairing processesinconvenient. For example, if a pairing process does not begin until auser fully engages with a wireless audio device or devices, the user mayneed to wait several seconds before the wireless audio device or devicescomplete the pairing process and output the desired acoustic signals.Users may perceive such wireless audio devices as “slow” due to thisdelay period.

Examples provided herein reduce or eliminate a delay between a userdonning a wireless audio device and the user being able to freely usethe wireless audio device. In some examples, a pairing process isinitiated prior to the user fully engaging with the wireless audiodevice. An example is provided in which a user picks up a wireless audiodevice in a low-power mode off of a surface, such as a table, on whichthe user previously placed the wireless audio device. The user dons thewireless audio device by placing the wireless audio device in, on,and/or around the user's ear and adjusts the wireless audio deviceappropriately until the wireless audio device has fully engaged theuser's body (for example, engaged with the user's ear[s] or head).

To reduce the aforementioned delay in one example of this scenario, thewireless audio device includes various sensors to determine, as early aspossible, when a user is preparing to use the wireless audio device. Forexample, the wireless audio device may include one or more movementsensors, position sensors, orientation sensors, touch sensors, and/orinfrared (IR) sensors to determine a confidence level that a user ispreparing to use the wireless audio device. As a user begins to pick upa wireless audio device, movement and/or position data (for example,accelerometer data) may indicate that the wireless audio device isbeginning to move (for example, upwards). The wireless audio device maydetermine that the wireless audio device being moved (for example,picked up) indicates that the user is preparing to use the wirelessaudio device. Responsive to determining that the wireless audio deviceis being picked up, the wireless audio device may awaken one or more IRsensors from a low-power state, to begin sampling data at a desired (forexample, normal) frequency. In other examples, the one or more IRsensors may already be sampling data at a desired frequency regardlessof whether or not the wireless audio device is being picked up, and noparticular action may be taken responsive to movement of the wirelessaudio device.

As the user begins to engage the wireless audio device in, on, or aroundthe user's ear (for example, by inserting the wireless audio device intothe user's ear canal, where the wireless audio device is an in-eardevice), the IR sensors may detect features of the user's ear(including, for example, the concha and/or tragus). The wireless audiodevice may determine that the wireless audio device detecting certainfeatures of the user's body corresponds to a “low confidence” level thatthe user is preparing to use the wireless audio device. Responsive toentering the low confidence level, the wireless audio device mayinitiate a pairing process as discussed above.

Responsive to determining that the IR sensors have detected respectivefeatures of the user's ear, the wireless audio device may determinewhether the wireless audio device is in a valid orientation (forexample, an orientation in which the wireless audio device is expectedto be while being worn and used by a user). For example, the wirelessaudio device may include one or more accelerometers or other sensorsconfigured to determine an orientation of the wireless audio device andmay determine whether the orientation is a valid orientation. Thewireless audio device may thus be determined to be in use responsive tothe IR sensors substantially simultaneously detecting respectivefeatures of the user's body and subsequently detecting a validorientation of the wireless audio device.

By the time the user has finished adjusting the wireless audio device toa comfortable position in, on, or around the user's ear, correspondingto being fully engaged with the body of the user, the pairing processmay be complete or nearly complete. Accordingly, examples disclosedherein enhance a user's experience by minimizing or reducing a delaybetween the user donning a wireless audio device and the user being ableto freely use the wireless audio device, while still minimizing powerconsumption when the wireless audio device is not in use.

Accordingly, detecting that the wireless audio device is in use or thatthe wireless audio device is not in use may be beneficial in determiningwhether to activate or deactivate certain functionality of the wirelessaudio device. Deactivating functionality when such features are not asbeneficial may advantageously decrease power consumption of the wirelessaudio device and thereby increase a battery life of the wireless audiodevice.

Examples of the methods and systems discussed herein are not limited inapplication to the details of construction and the arrangement ofcomponents set forth in the following description or illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. The methods and systems are capable ofimplementation in other examples and of being practiced or of beingcarried out in various ways. Examples of specific implementations areprovided herein for illustrative purposes only and are not intended tobe limiting. In particular, acts, components, elements and featuresdiscussed in connection with any one or more examples are not intendedto be excluded from a similar role in any other examples.

Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. Any references toexamples, components, elements, or acts of the systems and methodsherein referred to in the singular may also embrace examples including aplurality, and any references in plural to any example, component,element or act herein may also embrace examples including only asingularity. References in the singular or plural form are no intendedto limit the presently disclosed systems or methods, their components,acts, or elements. The use herein of “including,” “comprising,”“having,” “containing,” “involving,” and variations thereof is meant toencompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well asadditional items.

References to “or” may be construed as inclusive so that any termsdescribed using “or” may indicate any of a single, more than one, andall of the described terms. In addition, in the event of inconsistentusages of terms between this document and documents incorporated hereinby reference, the term usage in the incorporated features issupplementary to that of this document; for irreconcilable differences,the term usage in this document controls.

A headphone or earphone may refer to a device that typically fitsaround, on, in, or near an ear and that radiates acoustic energy into ortowards the ear canal. Headphones and earphones are sometimes referredto as earpieces, headsets, earbuds, or sport headphones, and can bewired or wireless. Certain wireless headphones play audio to a userbased on information received from an audio source. An audio source mayinclude a computing device (for example, a laptop computer, desktopcomputer, tablet, smartphone, or other electronic device) configured tocommunicate wireless signals encoding audio information to the wirelessheadphones. While headphones are described in various examples withinthis document, the technology described in this document is alsoapplicable to other wearable audio devices. The term “wearable audiodevice,” as used in this document, is intended to mean a device thatfits around, on, in, or near an ear (including open-ear audio devicesworn on the head or shoulders of a user) and that radiates acousticenergy into or towards the ear. Wearable audio devices include but arenot limited to headphones, earphones, earpieces, headsets, earbuds,sport headphones, and audio eyeglasses, and can be wired or wireless. Insome examples, a wearable audio device may be an open-ear device thatincludes an acoustic driver to radiate acoustic energy towards the earwhile leaving the ear open to its environment and surroundings. Awireless wearable audio device may be referred to herein as a “wirelessaudio device.”

A headphone may include an electro-acoustic transducer driver totransduce audio signals into acoustic energy. The acoustic driver may behoused in an earcup, earbud, or other housing. Some of the figures anddescriptions following show a single headphone device or component, suchas an antenna. A headphone may be a single stand-alone unit or one of apair of headphones (each including at least one acoustic driver), onefor each ear. A headphone may be connected mechanically and/orelectrically to another headphone, for example by a headband and/or byleads that conduct audio signals to an acoustic driver in the headphone.A headphone may include components for wirelessly receiving audiosignals or other wireless signals. A headphone may include components ofan active noise reduction (ANR) system. Headphones may also includeother components, such as microphones, accelerometers, gyroscopes,infrared sensors, compasses, GPS components, and so forth. A headphonemay also be an open-ear device that includes an electro-acoustictransducer to radiate acoustic energy towards the ear canal whileleaving the ear open to its environment and surroundings.

Example wireless audio devices will be described with respect to FIGS.1-3B. However, it is to be appreciated that FIGS. 1-3B illustrate onlysome examples of audio devices. As discussed above, other audio devicesare within the scope of the disclosure. FIG. 1 illustrates a perspectiveview of headphones 100 according to an example. The headphones 100include a first housing 102, a second housing 104, and a connector 106.In one example, the first housing 102 may be configured to be placedover one of a user's ears, and the second housing 104 may be configuredto be placed over another of the user's ears. The first housing 102 andthe second housing 104 may each respectively include an acoustic driverconfigured to transmit acoustic energy to the user. The connector 106may provide an electrical and/or mechanical connection between the firsthousing 102 and the second housing 104 and facilitate coupling of theheadphones 100 to the user's ears and/or head.

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of headphones 200 according toanother example. The headphones 200 include a first housing 202, asecond housing 204, and a connector 206. In one example, the firsthousing 202 may be configured to be inserted into one of a user's earcanals or pinne, and the second housing 104 may be configured to beinserted into another of the user's ear canals or pinne. The firsthousing 202 and the second housing 204 may each respectively include anacoustic driver configured to provide acoustic energy to the user. Theconnector 206 may provide an electrical and/or mechanical connectionbetween the first housing 202 and the second housing 204. Although theconnector 206 may be implemented in a wired configuration, theheadphones 200 may be referred to as a wireless audio device in certainexamples, such as where the headphones maintain a wireless connectionwith an audio source.

FIG. 3A illustrates a perspective view of an earpiece 300 according toanother example. FIG. 3B illustrates another perspective view of theearpiece 300 according to an example. In this example, the earpiece 300of FIGS. 3A and 3B is a part of a set of truly wireless earbuds or trulywireless in-ear (TWIE) buds, such as the SoundSport® Free wirelessheadphones sold by Bose Corporation. The earpiece 300 includes a housing302. In one example, the housing 302 may be configured to be insertedinto one of a user's ear canals or pinne. The housing 302 may include anacoustic driver configured to provide acoustic energy to the user. Theearpiece 300 may be implemented in conjunction with another, similar,headphone configured to be inserted into another of the user's earcanals or pinne. In some examples, the earpiece 300 and the similarheadphone may communicate wirelessly with one another. FIGS. 3A and 3Bfurther include a pitch axis 304 and a roll axis 306 about which anorientation of the earpiece 300 may be described.

Still other wireless audio devices are contemplated by the disclosure.For example, and as discussed above, wireless audio devices may include,for example, headphones, earphones, earpieces, headsets, earbuds, sportheadphones, audio eyeglasses, or other devices configured to outputacoustic signals.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a wireless audio system 400according to an example. The wireless audio system 400 includes a user402, a wireless audio device 404, and an audio source 406. The wirelessaudio device 404 is communicatively coupled to the audio source 406 viaa communication medium 408. The wireless audio device 404 includes acommunications interface 410, a controller(s) 412, one or more sensors414, one or more transducers 416, and one or more energy storage devices418.

The wireless audio device 404 may be or include one or more of theexample wireless audio devices discussed above, including but notlimited to the examples provided in FIGS. 1-3B. In some examples, thewireless audio device 404 is one of a pair of devices. For example, thewireless audio device 404 may be an earpiece (for example, the earpiece300) capable of being used in combination with a second, similarearpiece. In still other examples, the wireless audio device 404 may beor include wireless audio devices other than those illustrated in FIGS.1-3B, such as audio eyeglasses or ear hooks that rest on the top of auser's ears.

The audio source 406 may include any source of audio media content. Forexample, the audio source 406 may be a personal computer, tabletcomputer, cellular phone (for example, a smartphone), smart watch, smarttelevision, vehicle media system, or any other source of audio mediacontent. The audio media content may include, for example, music,podcasts, telephone call audio, or any other audio media content. Asdiscussed in greater detail below, the audio source 406 may providesignals indicative of the audio media content to the wireless audiodevice 404 via the communication medium 408.

The communication medium 408 may include any medium through whichsignals encoding audio media content may be provided. For example, thecommunication medium 408 may include electromagnetic signals. Audiomedia content may be encoded in one or more electromagnetic signals bythe audio source 406 and output by the audio source 406 (for example,via an antenna) to the wireless audio device 404. Similarly, thewireless audio device 404 may be configured to provide one or moresignals via the communication medium 408 to the audio source 406 (forexample, signals indicative of a “play or pause music” command, signalsindicative of an “answer phone call” command, and so forth).

The communications interface 410 may include any interface through whichcommunications may be exchanged with external devices. For example, thecommunications interface 410 may include one or more antennas configuredto convert electromagnetic radiation into an electrical current, and toconvert an electrical current into electromagnetic radiation.

The controller(s) 412 is configured to control operation of the wirelessaudio device 404, as discussed in greater detail below. Thecontroller(s) 412 may be configured to implement one or more feedbackand/or feedforward control schemes and may include one or morecomponents to implement the control scheme(s), such as one or morecompressors. For example, the controller(s) 412 may be configured toimplement one or more ANR control schemes to control operation of thetransducer(s) 416.

The sensor(s) 414 may include one or multiple types of sensors. Forexample, the sensor(s) 414 may include capacitive touch sensors,inertial measurement units (IMUs), accelerometers, IR sensors, strainsensors, thermal sensors, magnetic field sensors, gyroscopes,microphones, or any other types of sensors. The sensor(s) 414 may sendsignals indicative of sensed parameters to the controller(s) 412,responsive to which the controller(s) 412 may modify operation of thewireless audio device 404.

For example, the sensor(s) 414 may include one or more accelerometers,gyroscopes, magnetometers, IMUs (which may include one or moreaccelerometers, gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers), and so forth,configured to detect, in part, a position, orientation, and/or movementof the wireless audio device 404. The sensor(s) 414 may alternately oradditionally include one or more IR sensors configured to detect, inpart, electromagnetic radiation reflecting off of a user's body. Forexample, the sensor(s) 414 may include a first IR sensor positioned todetect IR electromagnetic radiation reflecting off of a user's concha,and/or a second IR sensor positioned to detect IR electromagneticradiation reflecting off of a user's tragus. The sensor(s) 414 mayalternately or additionally include one or more capacitive sensorsconfigured to detect, in part, a user's body (for example, a user'sfinger or hand) proximate to, or in contact with, the one or morecapacitive sensors. The sensor(s) 414 may alternately or additionallyinclude one or more microphones configured to detect, in part, audiofeedback signals (for example, audio signals indicative of an ambientenvironment of the wireless audio device 404) to implement an ANRcontrol scheme.

The transducer(s) 416 are configured to receive audio signals andoutput, based on the audio signals, acoustic signals. For example, thetransducer(s) 416 may include one or more speakers. The energy storagedevice(s) 418 are configured to store energy (for example, electricalenergy) and provide the stored energy to some or all of the componentsof the wireless audio device 404 to power the components of the wirelessaudio device 404. For example, the energy storage device(s) 418 mayinclude one or more batteries.

FIG. 5 illustrates a process 500 of operation in the wireless audiosystem 400 according to an example. Note that although process 500 isdescribed in the context of a wireless audio system (specifically,system 400), the present disclosure is not intended to be limited towireless audio systems unless explicitly state otherwise. Thus, at leastsome of the systems and methods described herein apply to wiredconfigurations, as well (for example, where the audio device is requiredto be, or can optionally be, wired to an audio data source, such aswired to a smartphone or tablet computer).

At act 502, the process 500 begins.

At act 504, audio signals are output by the audio source 406. The audiosignals may be output by the audio source 406 responsive to the user 402selecting audio media content via the audio source 406. For example, theuser 402 may select music for playback via the audio source 406. Inanother example, the audio signals may be output by the audio source 406responsive to another condition, such as the audio source 406 receivinga phone call and outputting audio signals indicative of a ring tone. Theaudio signals may be output by the audio source 406 to the wirelessaudio device 404 via the communication medium 408. For example, theaudio source 406 may include one or more antennas configured to outputaudio signals encoded in electromagnetic signals.

At act 506, the audio signals are received by the wireless audio device404 via the communications interface 410. For example, thecommunications interface 410 may include one or more antennas configuredto convert electromagnetic signals into an electrical current indicativeof the audio media content.

At act 508, acoustic signals indicative of the received audio signalsare output by the wireless audio device 404 via the transducer(s) 416.As discussed above, the transducer(s) 416 may include one or morespeakers configured to output acoustic signals.

At act 510, the process 500 ends.

The process 500 indicates one example of operation of the wireless audiosystem 400 where the wireless audio device 404 is in active use (thatis, where the wireless audio device 404 is actively receiving audiosignals from the audio source 406 and outputting acoustic signals inresponse thereto). At a subsequent point in time, the wireless audiodevice 404 may no longer be in active use (that is, where the wirelessaudio device 404 is not receiving audio signals from the audio source406 and is not outputting acoustic signals). For example, the user 402may have been using the wireless audio device 404 to listen to music,but has since paused the music and disengaged the wireless audio device404 from the body of the user 402, such as by taking the wireless audiodevice 404 out of or off of the head of the user 402 and placing thewireless audio device 404 on a table.

It may be beneficial to disable or minimize operation of certainfunctions of the wireless audio device 404 when the wireless audiodevice 404 is not in active use, such as functions that actively consumepower but are primarily beneficial only when the wireless audio device404 is in active use. That is, disabling or minimizing operation ofcertain functions may minimize an amount of power consumption by thewireless audio device 404 (and thus extend a battery life of thewireless audio device 404) without significantly adversely impactingoperation of the wireless audio device 404, at least because thedisabled or minimized functions provide little or no benefit where thewireless audio device 404 is not in active use.

Examples of functions that may be disabled or minimized are provided forpurposes of illustration. However, alternate or additional functions maybe within the scope of the disclosure. As discussed above, a firstfunction includes modifying operation of a compressor as part of an ANRor ANC system based on a state of engagement between a device and auser's body. A second function includes modifying filtering behavior andinstability detection functionality of the ANR or ANC system based on astate of engagement between a device and a user's body. A third functionincludes maintaining, via the communications interface 410, an activecommunication bond with the audio source 406 based on a state ofengagement between a device and a user's body. Certain wirelesstechnology standards (for example, a BLUETOOTH™ wireless technologystandard) governing communication via wireless media, such as examplesof the communication medium 408, mandate that a pairing process beexecuted prior to further information being exchanged via the wirelessmedia. For example, the pairing process may be executed prior toexecution of the process 500.

The pairing process may include, for example, an identity authenticationprocess. The audio source 406 may provide sensitive information (forexample, personal information of the user 402) via the communicationsmedium 408. It may therefore be beneficial for the audio source 406 toauthenticate an identity of the wireless audio device 404 during thepairing process prior to the audio source 406 and the wireless audiodevice 404 exchanging information.

Once the pairing process is complete and a bond is established betweenthe devices 404, 406, the devices 404, 406 may continuously orperiodically communicate with one another to maintain the bond withoutrequiring the pairing process to be re-executed. However, maintainingthe bond between the devices 404, 406 may cause the wireless audiodevice 404 to consume power stored by the energy storage device(s) 418.It may therefore be beneficial to disable the bond between the devices404, 406 after a period of inactivity (that is, the wireless audiodevice 404 not being used by the user 402) has elapsed. In onenon-limiting example, the bond may be disabled after ten minutes ofinactivity, after which the pairing process must be re-executed.Accordingly, it may be beneficial to re-initiate the pairing process assoon as a user is determined to be preparing to use the wireless audiodevice 404 after a period of inactivity.

In one example, the wireless audio device 404 is configured todetermine, based at least in part on information determined by thesensor(s) 414, that the user 402 is preparing to use the wireless audiodevice 404 again after the period of inactivity. For example, and asdiscussed in greater detail below, the wireless audio device 404 maydetect that the user 402 is re-engaging the wireless audio device 404with the body of the user 402, such as by inserting or attaching thewireless audio device 404 into, around, or near the ear of the user 402.Responsive to this determination, the wireless audio device 404 mayre-initiate the pairing process with the audio source 406.

The user 402 may find it ideal for the pairing process to be complete bythe time the user 402 has finished adjusting the engagement of thewireless audio device 404 with the body of the user 402. As used herein,an audio device is “fully engaged” with a body of a user where the audiodevice is seated in, on, or proximate to the user's ear in a positionand/or orientation that the audio device is meant to be comfortably usedin, after the user has finished adjusting the audio device. Accordingly,it may be beneficial for the wireless audio device 404 to begin thepairing process as soon as the user 402 is preparing to use the wirelessaudio device 404, rather than after the wireless audio device 404 isfully engaged with the body of the user 402. However, it may also bebeneficial for the wireless audio device 404 to minimize “falsepositives” (that is, situations in which the wireless audio device 404incorrectly determines that the user is preparing to use the wirelessaudio device 404) so as to minimize power consumption. It may thereforebe desirable for the wireless audio device 404 to employ a process ofdetermining when to initiate a pairing process that maximizes a user'sexperience and minimizes power consumption.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process 600 of operating a wireless audio deviceaccording to an example. For example, the process 600 may be executed inconnection with the wireless audio device 404. The process 600 mayinitially be executed while the wireless audio device 404 is not in use,during which certain functionality is disabled or suspended. Forexample, a wireless bond with the audio source 406 may be disabled, andone or more of the sensor(s) 414 may be in an off or low-power state.Conversely, other features or functionality may be enabled while thewireless audio device 404 is not in use, such as the feedforwardcompressors.

At act 602, the process 600 begins.

At act 604, a determination is made by the wireless audio device 404 asto whether the wireless audio device 404 is in use. For example, thewireless audio device 404 may be in use where the user 402 is using thewireless audio device 404, such as by engaging the wireless audio device404 with a head of the user 402 and utilizing the wireless audio device404 to output acoustic signals based on information received from theaudio source 406. An example of act 604 is discussed below with respectto FIG. 7 . If the wireless audio device 404 is not in use (604 NO),then act 604 is repeatedly re-executed until a determination is madethat the wireless audio device 404 is in use. If the wireless audiodevice 404 is in use (604 YES), then the process 600 continues to act606.

At act 606, functionality of the wireless audio device 404 is activatedand/or deactivated. The wireless audio device 404 enters an active modeof operation and activates or deactivates device functionality asdictated by the active mode of operation. More particularly, thewireless audio device 404 may activate functionality that isparticularly beneficial while the wireless audio device 404 is in use bythe user 402, and deactivate functionality that is of little benefitwhile the wireless audio device 404 is in use by the user 402. Forexample, at act 606 the wireless audio device 404 may re-establish awireless connection with the audio source 406, activate an instabilitydetection algorithm, increase ANR filtering settings, and/or deactivateone or more feedforward compressors. In various examples, one or moreoptional, user-configured actions may be executed at act 606. Forexample, an optional action may include commanding the audio source 406to provide audio information to the wireless audio device 404, such asby commanding the audio source 406 to play music or to accept atelephone call. In another example, the user 402 may control thewireless audio device 404 such that no optional, user-configurableactions are executed at act 606.

At act 608, a determination is made as to whether the wireless audiodevice 404 is still in use. An example of act 608 is discussed belowwith respect to FIG. 8 . If a determination is made that the wirelessaudio device 404 is still in use (608 YES), then act 608 is repeatedlyexecuted until a determination is made that the wireless audio device404 is no longer in use. If a determination is made that the wirelessaudio device 404 is not still in use (608 NO), then the process 600continues to act 610. In some examples, a delay period is introducedbetween acts 608 and 610 such that the wireless audio device 404 mustnot be in use for a threshold period of time (for example, ten minutes)before the process 600 continues to act 610.

At act 610, functionality of the wireless audio device 404 isdeactivated and/or activated. The wireless audio device 404 enters thesleep or low-power mode and deactivates or activates functionality asdictated by the sleep or low-power mode. For example, the wireless audiodevice 404 may activate functionality that is particularly beneficialwhile the wireless audio device 404 is not in use by the user 402, anddeactivate functionality that is of little benefit while the wirelessaudio device 404 is not in use by the user 402. For example, thewireless audio device 404 may deactivate functionality that wasactivated at act 606, and activate functionality that was deactivated atact 606. Act 606 may include de-establishing a wireless connection withthe audio source 406, deactivating an instability detection algorithm,decreasing ANR filtering settings, and/or activating one or morefeedforward compressors. In various examples, one or more optional,user-configured actions may be executed at act 610. For example, anoptional action may include commanding the audio source 406 to provideaudio information to the wireless audio device 404, such as bycommanding the audio source 406 to play music or to accept a telephonecall. In another example, the user 402 may control the wireless audiodevice 404 such that no optional, user-configurable actions are executedat act 610.

At act 612, the process 600 ends.

As discussed above, FIG. 7 illustrates a process 700 of determiningwhether the wireless audio device 404 is still in use. For example, theprocess 700 may be an example of act 604. The process 700 may beexecuted by the wireless audio device 404.

At act 702, the process 700 begins.

At act 704, a determination is made as to whether a body of the user 402has been detected. For example, the wireless audio device 404 maydetermine if parts of the user's ear or head have been detected, whichmay indicate that the user is in the process of donning the wirelessaudio device 404. The determination may be made by the controller(s) 412based at least in part on information received from the sensor(s) 414.

For example, where the sensor(s) 414 include a concha IR sensor and atragus IR sensor, the controller(s) 412 may determine, based oninformation received from the concha IR sensor and the tragus IR sensor,whether the information received from the concha IR sensor and thetragus IR sensor indicates that the wireless audio device 404 isproximate to the user's concha and tragus in a manner consistent withthe wireless audio device 404 being in use by the user 402. In someexamples, a user's body is not determined to be detected unless both theuser's concha and tragus are detected approximately simultaneously. Inother examples, a user's body may be determined to be detected whereeither the user's concha and tragus are detected, including examples inwhich only one of the concha or tragus sensor is implemented andexamples in which both the concha and tragus sensors are implemented. Invarious examples, the concha IR sensor and the tragus IR sensor mustdetect a respective body part of the user 402 for at least a thresholdperiod of time (for example, 500 ms) for a determination to be made thatthe body of the user 402 has been detected.

In other examples, the sensor(s) 414 may include one or more sensors todetermine the presence or absence of other parts of the user's body,such as other parts of a user's ear, a user's head, or other parts ofthe user's body. If the wireless audio device 404 determines, based oninformation received from the sensor(s) 414, that a user's body has notbeen detected (704 NO), then the process 700 returns to act 704. Act 704may be repeatedly executed until a user's body has been detected (704YES), at which point the process 700 continues to act 706.

At act 706, a determination is made as to whether the wireless audiodevice 404 is in a valid orientation. A valid orientation refers to anorientation that the wireless audio device 404 is expected to be induring normal use by the user 402, and may correspond to a certain rangeof orientation values received from one of more orientation sensors (forexample, accelerometers) of the sensor(s) 414. The controller(s) 412 mayreceive the orientation values from the sensor(s) 414 and determine,based on the orientation values, whether the orientation values arewithin a specified range of values.

For example, the orientation values may include a pitch orientationvalue and a roll orientation value defined relative to the respectiveaxes. As illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, for example, an orientation ofthe earpiece 300 may be defined relative to the pitch axis 304 and/orthe roll axis 306. Where the wireless audio device 404 includes theearpiece 300, in some examples a first orientation value may provide anindication of an orientation of the wireless audio device 404 relativeto the pitch axis 304 and a second orientation value may provide anindication of an orientation of the wireless audio device 404 relativeto the roll axis 306. The controller(s) 412 may thereafter determinewhether the first orientation value is within a first specified range ofvalues and whether the second orientation value is within a secondspecified range of values to ultimately determine whether the wirelessaudio device 404 is in a valid orientation. The first and secondspecified range of values may be provided to the wireless audio device404 (for example, by a designer of the wireless audio device 404) andmay be user-configurable.

If the wireless audio device 404 is not in a valid orientation (706 NO),then the process 700 continues to act 708. At act 708, a determinationis made as to whether a time-out condition has been met. The time-outcondition may be met where a threshold amount of time has elapsed sincethe body of the user 402 was detected at act 704. The threshold amountof time may be long enough to enable a user to finish adjusting anorientation of the wireless audio device 404 after initially donning thewireless audio device 404 (for example, 1500 ms). If the time-outcondition has been met (708 YES), then the process 700 returns to act704. For example, it may be assumed that the determination that a user'sbody has been detected (704 YES) was a false positive based on thewireless audio device 404 not being in a valid orientation (706 NO) forthe threshold period of time (708 YES). Otherwise, if the time-outcondition has not been met (708 NO), then the process 700 returns to act706. Act 706 is repeated and, if a determination is made that thewireless audio device 404 is in a valid orientation (706 YES), then theprocess 700 continues to act 710.

At act 710, a determination is made that the wireless audio device 404is in use by the user 402. The wireless audio device 404 is thereforedetermined to be in an active mode of operation, responsive to whichcertain device functionality may be enabled or disabled, as discussedabove with respect to act 606. As discussed above, the determination ismade based on the wireless audio device 404 detecting respectiveportions of a body of the user 402, such as a concha and tragus of theuser 402, and subsequently detecting a valid orientation of the wirelessaudio device 404 within a threshold period of time.

At act 712, the process 700 ends.

Modifications to the process 700 may be provided in alternate examples.In some examples, certain functionality may be activated or deactivatedsubsequent to detecting a body of the user 402 (704 YES) but prior todetermining whether the wireless audio device 404 is fully engaged witha body of the user 402 as evidenced by the wireless audio device 404being in a valid orientation at act 706. For example, responsive todetecting the body of the user 402 at act 704 (704 YES), the wirelessaudio device 404 may initiate a pairing process with the audio source406 and/or may initiate other functionality. If the wireless audiodevice 404 is subsequently determined to be fully engaged with the bodyof the user 402 as evidence by the wireless audio device 404 being in avalid orientation at act 706 (706 YES), then the wireless audio device404 may enter an active mode of operation. In other examples, thewireless audio device 404 may not initiate the pairing process until thebody of the user 402 has been detected (704 YES) and a valid orientationhas been detected (706 YES). For example, this may be the case where act604 includes the process 700 and act 606 includes initiating the pairingprocess.

As discussed above, FIG. 8 illustrates a process 800 of determiningwhether the wireless audio device 404 is still in use. The process 800may be an example of act 608. The process 800 may be executed by thewireless audio device 404.

At act 802, the process 800 begins.

At act 804, a determination is made as to whether the sensor(s) 414 arestill detecting a body of the user 402. For example, the sensor(s) 414may include the concha IR sensor and/or the tragus IR sensor. If thesensor(s) 414 are still detecting the body of the user 402 (804 YES),then the process 800 returns to act 804.

In some examples, a determination is made that the body of the user 402is no longer being detected (804 NO) only if both the concha IR sensorand the tragus IR sensor are simultaneously not detecting the body ofthe user 402. In other examples, a determination is made that the bodyof the user 402 is no longer being detected (804 NO) if either of theconcha IR sensor and the tragus IR sensor are not detecting the body ofthe user 402. In still other examples, other sensors may be implemented.If the sensor(s) 414 are not still detecting the body of the user 402(804 NO), then the process 800 continues to act 806.

At act 806, a determination is made as to whether a time-out conditionhas been satisfied. In some examples, a determination that the wirelessaudio device 404 is no longer in use is only made if the sensor(s) 414are no longer detecting the body of the user 402 (804 NO) for athreshold period of time (for example, 1000 ms). If the time-outcondition has not been satisfied (806 NO), then the process 800 returnsto act 804. If the time-out condition has been satisfied (806 YES), thenthe process 800 continues to act 808.

At act 808, a determination is made that the wireless audio device 404is no longer in use. The determination that the wireless audio device404 is no longer in use is based on the determination that the sensor(s)414 have not detected the body of the user 402 for a threshold period oftime, consistent with the user 402 having disengaged the wireless audiodevice 404 from the body of the user 402.

At act 810, the process 800 ends.

Other examples of operating the wireless audio device 404 may beprovided. For example, FIG. 9 illustrates a process 900 of operating thewireless audio device 404 according to another example. The process 900may initially be executed while the wireless audio device 404 is in alow-power mode during which certain functionality is disabled orsuspended and other functionality is enabled. For example, a wirelessbond with the audio source 406 may be disabled, and one or more of thesensor(s) 414 may be in an off or low-power state, but one or morefeedforward compressors may be activated.

At act 902, the process 900 begins.

At act 904, a determination is made by the wireless audio device 404 asto whether the wireless audio device 404 is being moved. For example,movement of the wireless audio device 404 may be caused by a userpicking up the wireless audio device 404 because the user is preparingto use the wireless audio device 404. As discussed above, the sensor(s)414 may include one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers,IMUs, or other sensors capable of determining movement of the wirelessaudio device. The controller(s) 412 may therefore determine, based oninformation received from the sensor(s) 414, whether or not the wirelessaudio device 404 is being moved.

If the wireless audio device 404 determines that the wireless audiodevice 404 is not being moved (904 NO), then the process 900 returns toact 904. The wireless audio device 404 may repeatedly execute act 904(for example, continuously, periodically, aperiodically, and so forth)until movement is detected. If movement is detected (904 YES), then theprocess 900 continues to act 906.

At act 906, the wireless audio device 404 activates one or more of thesensor(s) 414. One or more of the sensor(s) 414 may be in a deactivatedor low-power state while the wireless audio device 404 is in a low-powermode. For example, and as discussed above, the sensor(s) 414 may includeone or more IR sensors configured to detect one or both of a user'sconcha and a user's tragus at least in part by detecting IR radiationreflecting from the user's concha and/or tragus. In various examples, aconcha IR sensor and a tragus IR sensor may be configured to be in adeactivated or low-power state while the wireless audio device 404 is ina low-power mode. For example, in the deactivated or low-power state,the concha IR sensor and the tragus IR sensor may not be activelysensing IR electromagnetic radiation or may be sampling data at areduced frequency, such that power consumption is minimized.Accordingly, in some examples of act 906, the wireless audio device 404activates the concha IR sensor and the tragus IR sensor such that theconcha IR sensor and the tragus IR sensor resume sensing IRelectromagnetic radiation at a normal sampling frequency.

At act 908, a determination is made as to whether a user's body has beendetected. For example, the wireless audio device 404 may determine ifparts of the user's ear or head have been detected, which may indicatethat the user is in the process of donning the wireless audio device404. The determination may be made by the controller(s) 412 based atleast in part on information received from the sensor(s) 414.

For example, where the sensor(s) 414 include a concha IR sensor and atragus IR sensor, the controller(s) 412 may determine, based oninformation received from the concha IR sensor and the tragus IR sensor,whether the information received from the concha IR sensor and thetragus IR sensor indicates that the wireless audio device 404 isproximate to the user's concha and tragus. In some examples, a user'sbody is not determined to be detected unless both the user's concha andtragus are detected approximately simultaneously. In other examples, auser's body may be determined to be detected where either the user'sconcha and tragus are detected, including examples in which only one ofthe concha or tragus sensor is implemented and examples in which both ofthe concha and tragus sensors are implemented.

In other examples, the sensor(s) 414 may include one or more sensors todetermine the presence or absence of other parts of the user's body,such as other parts of a user's ear, a user's head, or other parts ofthe user's body. If the wireless audio device 404 determines, based oninformation received from the sensor(s) 414, that a user's body has notbeen detected (908 NO), then the process 900 returns to act 908. Act 908may be repeatedly executed until a user's body has been detected (908YES), at which point the process 900 continues to act 910.

At act 910, a pairing process is initiated. The determination that auser's body is detected at act 908 may grant the wireless audio device404 a low confidence that a user is preparing to use the wireless audiodevice 404, at least because it is relatively unlikely that the wirelessaudio device 404 would be brought near the parts of the user's bodydetected by the wireless audio device 404 unless the user were preparingto use the wireless audio device 404. Accordingly, at act 910, thewireless audio device 404 may initiate a pairing process with an audiosource, such as the audio source 406.

At act 912, a determination is made as to whether an engagement betweenthe wireless audio device 404 and a user's body is detected. Forexample, engagement between the wireless audio device 404 and the user'sbody may include a situation in which the wireless audio device 404 hasbeen donned by the user, and the user is no longer touching the wirelessaudio device 404. Such a situation may indicate that the user 402 hasadjusted the wireless audio device 404 to a comfortable position and isready to use the wireless audio device 404.

Accordingly, act 912 may include first determining if a user is stilltouching the wireless audio device 404. For example, the sensor(s) 414may include a thermal or capacitive touch sensor configured to determineif a user is touching the wireless audio device 404. If thecontroller(s) 412 determines, based on information received from thesensor(s) 414, that the user is still touching the wireless audio device404 (912 NO), then the process 900 returns to act 912.

If the user 402 is not still touching the wireless audio device 404,then a determination may be made as to whether movement of the wirelessaudio device 404 preceding the user releasing the wireless audio device404 is indicative of the user donning the wireless audio device 404. Forexample, in examples in which the wireless audio device 404 is an in-eardevice, movement indicative of the user donning the wireless audiodevice 404 may include the wireless audio device 404 moving inwards intothe user's ear.

Accordingly, the wireless audio device 404 may analyze informationreceived from one or more of an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometers,or IMU, for example, to determine movement of the wireless audio device404. Information received from the example sensor(s) may be bufferedover a certain period of time (for example, 30 seconds), such thatpreviously acquired movement or position data may be analyzed responsiveto a condition being met. For example, the buffered movement or positioninformation may be analyzed responsive to the wireless audio device 404determining that the user is no longer touching the wireless audiodevice 404.

The determination that the user is not still touching the wireless audiodevice 404 and that the wireless audio device 404 was moved in a mannerconsistent with the wireless audio device 404 being donned preceding therelease of the wireless audio device 404 may grant the wireless audiodevice 404 a high confidence that the user is preparing to use thewireless audio device 404. Accordingly, if the wireless audio device 404determines that the user is not still touching the wireless audio device404 and that the wireless audio device 404 was moved in a mannerconsistent with the wireless audio device 404 being donned preceding therelease of the wireless audio device 404, then the wireless audio device404 may determine that the wireless audio device 404 is fully engagedwith a user's body (912 YES) and continue to act 914. Otherwise, if thewireless audio device 404 determines that the user is still touching thewireless audio device 404 or that the wireless audio device 404 was notmoved in a manner consistent with the wireless audio device 404 beingdonned preceding the release of the wireless audio device 404, then thewireless audio device 404 may determine that the wireless audio device404 is not fully engaged with the user's body (912 NO), and return toact 912.

At act 914, the wireless audio device 404 enters an active mode from thelow-power mode. As discussed above, the active mode may includeactivating a full range of functionality of the wireless audio device404, such as by awakening or ramping up operation of all or most of thesensor(s) 414. Although the active mode may consume more power than thelow-power mode, the active mode may provide enhanced functionality tothe user 402 from the wireless audio device 404. Act 914 may furtherinclude disabling certain functions, such as disabling one or morefeedforward compressors.

For example, in addition to or in lieu of examples of functionality thatmay be executed discussed above, entering the active mode may includeproviding an in-ear audio signal (for example, by the wireless audiodevice 404 outputting a tone to the user 402 indicating that thewireless audio device 404 is in an active mode), providing aninformative audio signal (for example, by the wireless audio device 404outputting audible information indicative of a remaining energy level ofthe wireless audio device 404), answering a phone call (for example, ifthe wireless audio device 404 includes a mobile communication device),outputting audio (for example, by the wireless audio device 404 resumingoutputting a song if the song was previously paused), enabling one ormore capacitive touch sensors (for example, where the sensor[s] 414include one or more capacitive touch sensors and the wireless audiodevice 404 is configured to receive capacitive touch inputs), modifyingANR or ANC functionality as discussed above, enabling voice-inputfunctionality (for example, by activating one or more microphones toreceive voice input signals, where the sensor[s] 414 include one or moremicrophones, or by enabling software configured to respond to voiceinputs, such as by activating a virtual assistant configured to respondto user voice inputs or enabling the virtual assistant to wake upresponsive to detecting a wake-up-word), increasing power to processingand/or RF functionality, adjusting a state of output components (forexample, by modifying a state of a light-emitting component, such as alight-emitting diode, responsive to the wireless audio device 404 beingfully engaged with a user's body, such as by turning the light-emittingcomponent, turning the light-emitting component off, or altering awavelength of light output by the light-emitting component), enablingmaster-puppet switching functionality (for example, where the wirelessaudio device 404 is one component of a pair of components having amaster-puppet relationship to be used by a user, and it is desirable toswitch which of the components is a master and which is a puppet), andso forth.

By the time act 914 is executed, the pairing process initiated at act910 may be complete or nearly complete, and a wireless bond may beestablished with the audio source 406. With the wireless bond beingestablished, and the wireless audio device 404 entering the active mode,the wireless audio device 404 may be fully ready for use by the user402.

In various examples, one or more optional, user-configured actions maybe executed at act 914. For example, an optional action may includecommanding the audio source 406 to provide audio information to thewireless audio device 404, such as by commanding the audio source 406 toplay music or to accept a telephone call. In some examples, the wirelessaudio device 404 may be configured to command the audio source 406 toplay music from a designated music streaming service at act 914. Inanother example, the user 402 may control the wireless audio device 404such that no optional actions are executed at act 914 except forentering the active mode.

It is to be appreciated that acts 902-614 may be executed to facilitatepower savings and enhance a user's experience by expediting a wirelesspairing process. Once the wireless bond is established, the user mayfreely use the wireless audio device 404. However, it may be desirablefor the wireless audio device 404 to periodically determine if thewireless audio device 404 is still in use and, if not, to enter thelow-power mode.

Accordingly, at act 916, a determination is made as to whether thewireless audio device 404 is still in use. The process 800 may beincluded in an example of the act 916. The controller(s) 412 executesthe determination based on information received from the sensor(s) 414.For example, in examples in which the sensor(s) 414 include one or moreIR sensors configured to detect portions of a user's head or ears, suchas concha and/or tragus sensors, the controller(s) 412 may determinethat the wireless audio device 404 is not still in use where none of theone or more IR sensors are detecting portions of the user's head orears. In other examples, IR sensors may be implemented to detect otherportions of a user's head or ears. In still other examples, thesensor(s) 414 may include other types of sensors, such as touch sensorsand/or thermal sensors, to determine whether the wireless audio device404 is still engaged with a user's head or ears.

If the wireless audio device 404 is no longer engaged with the user'sbody, as indicated by the lack of detection of portions of the user'shead or ears, then the wireless audio device 404 may determine that thewireless audio device 404 is no longer in use by the user 402 (916 NO)and the process 900 continues to act 918. Otherwise, if the wirelessaudio device 404 determines that the wireless audio device 404 is stillin use (916 YES), then the process 900 returns to act 916.

At act 918, a determination is made as to whether an inactivitythreshold has been met. For example, the controller(s) 412 may determinean amount of time that has elapsed since the wireless audio device 404was last determined, at act 916, to be in use, and determine if thatamount of time has met or exceeded the inactivity threshold. Forexample, the inactivity threshold may be five minutes, ten minutes, 30minutes, or any other period of time. If the inactivity threshold hasnot been met (918 NO), then the process 900 returns to act 916.Otherwise, if the inactivity threshold has been met (918 YES), then theprocess 900 continues to act 920.

At act 920, certain features are deactivated and/or activated. Asdiscussed above, the process 900 may begin at act 902 with the wirelessaudio device 404 being in the low-power mode. Accordingly, certainfeatures and/or components of the wireless audio device 404 may becurtailed, disabled, and/or powered down in the low-power mode. Forexample, the wireless bond discussed above with respect to act 910 maybe disabled. In another example, one or more of the sensor(s) 414 may bepowered down, disabled, or otherwise modified to conserve power (forexample, by reducing a sampling frequency of the sensor[s] 414). Otherfeatures, such as a feedforward compressor, may be activated at act 918.In various examples, features that are activated or deactivated at act920 may be user-configurable.

At act 920, the process 900 ends.

Accordingly, the processes 600-900 may be executed by the wireless audiodevice 404 to maximize user experience and minimize power consumption.It is to be appreciated that, in the context of the process 900, thewireless audio device 404 may be implemented in connection with any ofseveral example devices including headphones, earphones, audioeyeglasses, and so forth. Furthermore, it is to be appreciated thatvarious modifications to the process 900 are within the scope of thedisclosure.

For example, in some examples of the process 600, one or more of thesensor(s) 414 used in detecting whether the wireless audio device 404 isin use at act 604 may be in a low-power mode, and may be activatedresponsive to detecting movement of the wireless audio device 404 asdiscussed above with respect to acts 904-906. Similarly, in variousexamples of the process 700, act 912 may be executed in addition to, orin lieu of, act 706.

As discussed above with respect to act 904, a first indication that theuser 402 may be preparing to use the wireless audio device 404 may bemovement of the wireless audio device 404. In other examples, otherconditions may indicate that the user 402 is preparing to use thewireless audio device 404. For example, the sensor(s) 414 may includeone or more sensors configured to detect a user touching the wirelessaudio device 404, such as a thermal sensor configured to detect changesin temperature resulting from a user's body heat or a capacitive touchsensor configured to detect changes in capacitance resulting from auser's proximity. In other examples, the sensor(s) 414 may include anyother sensor capable of detecting a user's touch or proximity, ormovement of the wireless audio device 404.

As discussed above with respect to acts 704 and 908, a body of the user402 may be detected by one or more of the sensor(s) 414, such as a firstIR sensor configured to detect a tragus of the user 402 and/or a secondIR sensor configured to detect a concha of the user 402. In otherexamples, only one of the tragus IR sensor and the concha IR sensor maybe implemented. In still other examples, other types of sensors may beimplemented in connection with the sensor(s) 414 to detect a body of theuser 402. For example, the sensor(s) 414 may include one or more IRsensors configured to detect other parts of the body of the user 402,such as the pinna or head of the user 402. Such IR sensors may beparticularly advantageous where the wireless audio device 404 isconfigured to be coupled on or near an ear of the user 402, such aswhere the wireless audio device 404 is implemented in a configurationsimilar to the headphones 100.

In another example, the sensor(s) 414 may include alternate types ofsensors, such as one or more strain gauges. For example, where thewireless audio device 404 is implemented in a configuration similar tothe headphones 100, a strain gauge may be implemented in a connectorsimilar to the connector 106. The strain gauge may detect strain datathat is indicative of the wireless audio device 404 being coupled arounda head of the user 402, at least because more strain may be placed onthe connector than when the wireless audio device 404 is not expanded tocouple around the head of the user 402. In still other examples, thesensor(s) 414 may include any other sensors configured to detect thepresence or absence of certain portions of the body of the user 402.

As discussed above with respect to acts 606, 610, 914, and 920, the user402 may customize whether and which actions are executed at therespective acts. Similarly, the user 402 may customize actions that areperformed responsive to the body of the user 402 being detected at act908. Actions performed responsive to the body of the user 402 beingdetected at act 908 may correspond to actions performed at act 914. Forexample, as discussed above, the user 402 may customize operation of thewireless audio device 404 such that music is played from a musicstreaming platform at act 914. Accordingly, a music streaming platformapplication corresponding to the music streaming platform discussedabove may be launched responsive to a body of the user 402 beingdetected at act 908 to expedite the process of playing music at act 914.In other examples, the user 402 may customize operation of the wirelessaudio device 404 such that any other desired action is performedresponsive to the body of the user 402 being detected at act 908.

In some examples, alternate or additional conditions may be required tobe satisfied at act 908 prior to a determination being made that thebody of the user 402 has been detected. For example, the sensor(s) 414may include one or more orientation sensors configured to determine ifthe wireless audio device 404 is in a valid or invalid orientation. Aninvalid orientation may correspond to an orientation in which thewireless audio device 404 is not expected to be in use with the body ofthe user 402. For example, if the orientation indicates that thewireless audio device 404 is upside down, the wireless audio device 404may determine that it is unlikely that the user 402 is attempting to usethe wireless audio device 404 while upside down, and responsivelydetermine that the body of the user 402 has not been detected (908 NO).In other examples, other orientations may be considered invalid. Thewireless audio device 404 may determine if a valid or invalidorientation of the wireless audio device 404 is detected in addition to,or in lieu of, other actions (for example, determining if a concha IRsensor and/or tragus IR sensor detect parts of the body of the user 402)discussed above at act 908. Similarly, act 912 may include adetermination as to the validity or invalidity of the orientation of thewireless audio device 404 in addition to or in lieu of the actionsdiscussed above with respect to act 912.

As discussed above with respect to act 912, a determination as towhether the wireless audio device 404 has been fully engaged with a bodyof the user 402 may be based on the user 402 releasing the wirelessaudio device 404, and based on movement of the wireless audio device 404being consistent with the user 402 donning the wireless audio device404. For example, a determination of the user 402 holding or releasingthe wireless audio device 404 may be based on data received from one ormore of the sensor(s) 414, such as a capacitive touch sensor, a thermalsensor to detect body heat from the user 402, and so forth.

Furthermore, the determination of the movement of the wireless audiodevice 404 being consistent with the user 402 donning the wireless audiodevice 404 may be based on data received from one or more of thesensor(s) 414, such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, IMU,and so forth. The determination of the movement of the wireless audiodevice 404 being consistent with the user 402 donning the wireless audiodevice 404 may vary based on an implementation of the wireless audiodevice 404. For example, a movement indicative of the user 402 donningthe wireless audio device 404 may differ where the wireless audio device404 is implemented in a configuration similar to the headphones 100 ascompared to examples in which the wireless audio device 404 isimplemented in an audio eyeglass configuration.

In some examples, the wireless audio device 404 may communicate with oneor more other wireless audio devices to determine whether movement isindicative of the user 402 donning the wireless audio device 404. Forexample, where the wireless audio device 404 is implemented in aconfiguration similar to the earpiece 300, which is one of a pair ofearpieces, the wireless audio device 404 may communicate with the otherearpiece of the pair of earpieces to which the earpiece 300 belongs. Thewireless audio device 404 may communicate with the other earpiece todetermine if, for example, the wireless audio device 404 and the otherearpiece were moved towards one another, which may indicate that theuser 402 donned the wireless audio device 404 by inserting the wirelessaudio device 404 and the other earpiece into the ears of the user 402.

In various examples, the wireless audio device 404 may detect engagementbetween the wireless audio device 404 and a body of the user 402 at act912 using information and/or sensors alternate to, or in addition to,the information and sensors discussed above with respect to act 912. Forexample, in examples in which the wireless audio device 404 isimplemented with a configuration similar to the headphones 100, thesensor(s) 414 may include one or more strain gauges to determine whetherthe user 402 has donned the wireless audio device.

More particularly, in various examples, the strain gauge information maybe analyzed to identify an increased strain on the connector(corresponding, for example, to the user 402 pulling apart housingssimilar to the first housing 102 and the second housing 104 to fit thewireless audio device 404 over the head of the user 402) followed by adecreased strain on the connector (corresponding, for example, to theuser 402 fitting the housings over ears of the user 402). For example,strain gauge information may be buffered and analyzed responsive to acondition being met, such as a determination that the user 402 hasreleased the wireless audio device 404, which may be executed inaddition to or in lieu of analyzing buffered movement or positioninformation as discussed above with respect to act 912. In otherexamples, any other information and/or sensors may be implemented inaddition to, or in lieu of, those discussed above with respect to act912.

As discussed above with respect to acts 608-610 and 916-920, certainfunctionality of the wireless audio device 404 may be disabledresponsive to determining that the wireless audio device 404 is nolonger in use. In some examples, such as examples in which the wirelessaudio device 404 is one of a pair of devices (for example, one earbud ina pair of truly wireless earbuds), a determination to disable certainfunctionality may be made with respect to information received from theother device of the pair of devices. For example, where the wirelessaudio device 404 is implemented in a configuration similar to theearpiece 300, which is one of a pair of earpieces, the wireless audiodevice 404 may communicate with the other earpiece of the pair ofearpieces to which the earpiece 300 belongs.

More particularly, the wireless audio device 404 may determine thatfunctionality will not be disabled unless both devices of the pair ofearpieces are no longer in use. Thus, the user 402 may stop using thewireless audio device 404 for at least the inactivity threshold butcontinue to use the other device of the pair of devices, and thewireless audio device 404 may remain active until the other device isalso no longer in use. In other examples, the wireless audio device 404may execute acts 608-610 and 916-920 without regard to any otherdevices. In still other examples, the user 402 may configure whether thewireless audio device 404 executes acts 608-610 and 916-920 with respectto other devices.

As discussed above, devices disclosed herein may be controlled bycontrollers including the controller(s) 412. Using data stored inassociated memory, the controllers may execute one or more instructionsstored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that mayresult in manipulated data. In some examples, the controllers mayinclude one or more processors or other types of controllers. In anotherexample, the controllers include a field-programmable gate arraycontroller.

In yet another example, the controllers perform a portion of thefunctions disclosed herein on a processor and performs another portionusing an application-specific integrated circuit tailored to performparticular operations. As illustrated by these examples, examples inaccordance with the present invention may perform the operationsdescribed herein using many specific combinations of hardware andsoftware and the invention is not limited to any particular combinationof hardware and software components.

Having thus described several aspects of at least one example, it is tobe appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvements willreadily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations,modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of, and withinthe spirit and scope of, this disclosure. Accordingly, the foregoingdescription and drawings are by way of example only.

What is claimed is:
 1. An audio device comprising: at least one of anaccelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, or inertial measurement unit(IMU); one or more infrared (IR) sensors; and a controller configured toin response to entering a low-power mode during which certainfunctionality is disabled or suspended, determine whether the audiodevice is being moved using the at least one of an accelerometer,gyroscope, magnetometer, or IMU; in response to determining that theaudio device is being moved when in the low-power mode, bring the one ormore IR sensors out of a deactivated or low-power state; and in responseto determining the audio device is engaged with a user's body using atleast the one or more IR sensors, activate additional functionality ofthe audio device.
 2. The audio device of claim 1, wherein the additionalfunctionality includes providing an audio signal to i) indicate theaudio device is in an active mode and/or ii) provide information aboutthe audio device.
 3. The audio device of claim 1, wherein the additionalfunctionality includes answering a phone call.
 4. The audio device ofclaim 1, wherein the additional functionality includes resuming audiooutput that was previously paused.
 5. The audio device of claim 1,wherein the additional functionality includes enabling one or morecapacitive touch sensors.
 6. The audio device of claim 1, wherein theadditional functionality includes modifying active noise reductionfunctionality.
 7. The audio device of claim 1, wherein the additionalfunctionality includes enabling voice-input functionality.
 8. The audiodevice of claim 1, wherein the additional functionality includesincreasing power to processing and/or radio frequency (RF)functionality.
 9. The audio device of claim 1, wherein the additionalfunctionality includes enabling master-puppet switching functionality.10. The audio device of claim 1, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to, in response to determining i) the audio device is nolonger engaged with the user's body using at least the one or more IRsensors and ii) an inactivity threshold has been met, cause the audiodevice to re-enter the low-power mode.
 11. A method of operating anaudio device, the method comprising: in response to the audio deviceentering a low-power mode during which certain functionality of theaudio device is disabled or suspended, determine whether the audiodevice is being moved using at least one of an accelerometer, gyroscope,magnetometer, or inertial measurement unit (IMU) of the audio device; inresponse to determining that the audio device is being moved when in thelow-power mode, bring one or more infrared (IR) sensors of the audiodevice out of a deactivated or low-power state; and in response todetermining the audio device is engaged with a user's body using atleast the one or more IR sensors, activate additional functionality ofthe audio device.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the additionalfunctionality includes providing an audio signal to i) indicate theaudio device is in an active mode and/or ii) provide information aboutthe audio device.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the additionalfunctionality includes answering a phone call.
 14. The method of claim11, wherein the additional functionality includes resuming audio outputthat was previously paused.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein theadditional functionality includes enabling one or more capacitive touchsensors.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the additionalfunctionality includes modifying active noise reduction functionality.17. The method of claim 11, wherein the additional functionalityincludes enabling voice-input functionality.
 18. The method of claim 11,wherein the additional functionality includes increasing power toprocessing and/or radio frequency (RF) functionality.
 19. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the additional functionality includes enablingmaster-puppet switching functionality.
 20. The method of claim 11,further comprising, in response to determining i) the audio device is nolonger engaged with the user's body using at least the one or more IRsensors and ii) an inactivity threshold has been met, cause the audiodevice to re-enter the low-power mode.